HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.6.23 Park & Rec Minutes1 | Page
CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Regular Meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
February 6, 2023 at 6:30 P.M.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:34 PM B. ROLL CALL: Jeff Yager__X_ Mike Bradbury__X__ Eric Brenton __X__ Paula Mielke_X__ Tom Faust_X__ Randi Lundell_X__ Mike Tracy_X__
COUNCIL LIAISON:
James Wassenberg_X__
STAFF PRESENT: Kelly Nelson___X___ _
C. PRESENTATION: N/A
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Approval of December 5, 2022 -Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meeting
Yager motions to approve
the minutes; motion carried 7-0
E. AGENDA:
1. 2023 Officer Elections Mike Tracy motioned to approve Mike Bradbury to be elected as Chairperson. Motion carried 7-0 to elect Mike Bradbury as Chairperson.
Randi Lundell motioned Jeff Yager to be elected as Vice Chairperson. Motion carried 7-0 to elect Jeff Yager as Vice Chairperson. Randi Lundell motioned Paula Mielke to be elected as Secretary. Motion carried 7-0 to elect Paula Mielke as Secretary. 2. Adopt the Standing Rules
Bradbury asked for clarification in regards to point number three under the Purpose & Duties section that states that a duty of the Parks and Recreation Commission is to “Submit an annual recreation budget to City Council.” Bradbury states that we haven’t advised on or
established a budget previously. The budget has been submitted by the staff liaison to the Commission. The PARC’s role is to ensure the budget is submitted. Wassenberg stated that it may have been included as a duty so that the Commission may have the option to do so. The
Commission asked that point number three be amended to read: “May submit an annual recreation budget to City Council.” Commissioners asked that the budget be an added agenda item to October of each year when Staff is working on it to submit it for the upcoming year. Commissioner Mielke asked that the 2023 budget be shared at the upcoming March 2023 PARC meeting.
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Bradbury also asked about point number four under the Purpose & Duties section, as it states, “Monitor recreational programs and locate and select suitable staff for all programs.”
Bradbury said that City Staff have solely been responsible for hiring the program staff. Bradbury suggested point four be revised to read, “Monitor recreational programs and the selection of suitable staff for all programs.” Under Agenda, Rule 1, Commissioners discussed how to add items to meeting agendas. The staff liaison prepares the agendas. It was decided to discuss items for the next month’s agenda at the conclusion of a meeting and to email staff liaison with agenda items in advance of meetings. No edits to Rule 1. Under Meeting Process, Rule 4, standard motion procedure was discussed and clarified. With Sikkink’s Seven Motion System, only one motion is required and then a vote is taken (all in favor). Commissioners also discussed Rule 8 – no meeting will extend beyond 10 p.m. Chair
Bradbury said he will work hard to move meetings along. No change to Rule 8. Commission Faust motioned to approve the Falcon Heights Parks and Recreation
Commission Standing Rules for 2023 as addended. Motion carried 7-0. 3. Summer Programming Guide
Summer programming information must be submitted at end of February to be
included in the quarterly newsletter that is mailed to residents. Bradbury asked if
Falcon Heights could serve as an overflow option to Roseville if their programs are full. The City could rent the field(s) to surrounding Cities rather than host their own programming. Lundell stated she would like to provide some form of City programming to our residents. Mielke asked if Urban Tennis might be a resource to help instruct a tennis program. Lundell proposed that perhaps we offer similar programming to 2022 so that the Commission has more time to study enrollment numbers and to determine future programming in 2024. It was discussed that the most popular courses last year (and previously) were Mini Soccer, Super Soccer and Summer Discovery Playground. Program staff did advise at the conclusion of the 2022 season that the current Summer Discovery Playground curriculum works best as a four-hour class rather than as two; a two-hour class was offered in 2022. Staff stated that they are meeting with Commonwealth Terrace Cooperative on 2/9/23 to determine what facilities and instructors they might be able to provide to host some programming there. Bradbury asked
Staff if they felt comfortable in making a final decision about programming after that meeting or if they needed more input from the Commission. Staff said they felt comfortable to move forward with programming selection, using 2022 as a guideline for developing 2023
programing. Staff will likely offer Mini Soccer, Super Soccer, Summer Discovery Playground and determine if additional programming makes sense after the CTC meeting on 2/9/23. 4. 2023 Goals The Commission had previously started a working list of goals but Commissioner Brenton motioned to table establishing our final list of Parks and Recreation Commission 2023 Goals until the next meeting on March 6, 2023 so more time could be spent discussing those. All voted in favor to table discussion of 2023 Goals. Motion carried 7-0. 5. Formally Approve Community Garden Selection Policy Although the City added gardening plots in the last year or so, there are still not enough to
meet the demand. Staff said there is already a waiting list that exceeds the number of open plots that will be available. There are also returning gardeners that would like a second plot but must wait until all newcomers on the waiting list are offered a plot first. Additionally,
Staff said that our selection policy needed to offer a bit more clarity. Whereas the policy on
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the City’s website states that “Returning gardeners are given priority. If plots are open, they are assigned on a first come, first served basis with preference given in the following order:
1). Falcon Heights apartment and townhome residents 2). Other Falcon Heights residents 3). Non-Falcon Heights residents. Staff previously had to determine if that meant the order should be:
• FH renters/tenants already on the waiting list
• FH renters/tenant not yet on the waiting list; a new request
• FH residents on the waiting list
• FH residents not yet on the waiting list; a new request
• All other individuals on the waiting list
• All other individuals interested not yet on the waiting list; a new request Commissioner Tracy does not think you should have garden plots for perpetuity.
Currently, returning gardeners are automatically given their same plot. In the future,
the Commission would like to discuss how to handle that. Additionally, Tracy said that
the type of dwelling, whether apartments or homes, and whether owned or rented does
not matter as much as whether the person has access to land to garden; land access
should be the real determining factor. Commissioner Faust suggested that the first
priority criteria (Falcon Heights apartment and townhome residents) be revised to read: 1).
Falcon Heights residents without access to land to garden. The goal is to broaden to
include condo, townhome owners and apartment and house renters who aren’t allowed
to have a garden
Bradbury motioned to revise our stated criteria as such:
1). Falcon Heights residents without access to land to garden
2). Falcon Heights residents with land access
3). Non-Falcon Heights residents
Commissioner Mielke motioned to approve the changes as described above. All voted in favor of changing the wording on the website to be reflected this way. Motion carried 7-0.
F. INFORMATION/ANNOUNCEMENT Proposed March Agenda Items: o The 2023 Goals of the Parks and Recreation Commission o An update on 2023 Summer Programming and Marketing the 2023 Summer Programs o Program Cancellation Policy Due to Weather o Discipline Policy for Summer/Fall Programs
o 2023 Budget Overview o 2023 Spring Ahead Event o 2023 Ice Rinks and Warming House Usage G. ADJOURNMENT: 8:53 P.M. Yager 1st Motion
Motion Carried 7-0